Shadow
by Windswift
Summary: Ryou will never be alone, because he has a constant companion. But shadows aren't always as docile as we'd like to believe some are an unexpected foreshadowing of what's to come


Inspired by Merlin's shadow in _The Mirror of Merlin_ by T.A. Barron. Come to think of it, Peter Pan's shadow was stubborn too...  
  
Disclaimer: If I owned YuGiOh, I wouldn't have to post this story on fanfiction, now would I?  
  
I'm not sure, but for whatever reason, I want to say that the Ring is given to Ryou when he's about 8ish, though Yami no Bakura can't communicate with his host until Ryou encounters Yuugi. But for my purposes, in the italics Ryou is about 8 [or 2nd grade], he's only recently received the Ring, and his mother and sister are already dead.  
  
I'm pretty sure that "yami" can also mean "shadow" in Japanese. [Because people call the Shadow Games "yami no games", which coincidentally 'game' would be 'yuugi', so Yami no Yuugi enjoys challenging people to a yami no yuugi where they go insane... puns are great...]  
  
**_Shadow_**  
  
...  
Japanese:  
san- an honorific meaning Mr/Mrs/Miss [seeing as I don't know his name]  
chan- an honorific usually used for female relatives or ones you know well, but can also mean little [as in "little Ryou"]  
aa- yes [though formal or informal, I have no idea...]  
'tousan- [otou-san] father  
'kaasan- [okaa-san] mother  
imouto-chan- younger sister  
gomen nassai- I'm sorry  
sennen- millennium [sen- thousand; nen- year]  
owari- the end  
...  
  
_The sun is soft in spring, its brilliance shining gently warm instead of summer's glaring heat. Winter mixes old and new, autumn air is crisp, and summer burns vividly intense, but spring is fresh.  
  
The branches of trees were brushed with green leaves, not yet as thick as their summer fare would be. Pale fallen blossoms sprinkled the grass and sidewalks alike. Shade, too cool in the mild weather, carpeted parks and revolved around their domain under the leafy wood. One could almost see the dryads laughing in the wind...  
  
Bakura-san smiled as he glanced over at his son, who was cavorting wildly alongside him without a care in the world. No, he took that back— there did appear to be some method to his child's madness on this stroll through the park, though for the life of him he couldn't discern what it was.  
  
"Ryou-chan, what are you doing? Is this a protest against walking in a direct path like most sensible people?"  
  
The boy grinned at his father and adjusted his jacket from where it had slid down his shoulder again. "Nuh uh."  
  
"You're trying to prove that the shortest distance between two points isn't always a straight line?"  
  
"Guess again!" Ryou chirped.  
  
Bakura-san stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Well, you're avoiding every patch of shadow like the plague, but I still don't understand the game."  
  
The child readily enlightened his father, pointing towards the ground. "Every time I go in the shade, it swallows up my shadow and he disappears! And I don't want to lose him, because he might get stuck, or decide that he likes it better in there than out here with me."  
  
"Aa, that's quite possible."  
  
"You're walking in the shade, 'Tousan," Ryou pointed out. "Maybe yours is already lost in the world of shadows."  
  
Bakura-san nodded and replied, "I have faith that when he gets bored, he'll return to me."  
  
Ryou's chocolate-brown eyes widened as he thought about it. "My shadow is like a whole other part of me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost him!"  
  
"You could always hang up posters," his father suggested. "'Lost: Bakura Ryou's shadow. Described as the shadow of a little boy with no little boy attached at the soles. If found, please return immediately.' What do you think?"  
  
"That I'm never gonna lose him!" With that, Ryou began navigating the maze of sunlight once more.  
_  
.  
  
No one enjoys being alone.  
  
'Tousan was unhappy after 'Kaasan died, so he surrounded himself with me, Amane-chan, and his work. He said that being an archaeologist and unearthing ancient artifacts made him feel as if the people of the past were whispering secrets in his ear. 'Kaasan used to whisper things in his ear, and it always made him laugh. I suppose that's why he left me to pursue his work in Egypt.  
  
At least loneliness didn't follow him there.  
  
Amane-chan and I were as close as friends, siblings, and best enemies all rolled into one. Because of my imouto-chan, 'Kaasan's death didn't hit us as hard as it did 'Tousan. But when Amane-chan died and left me, I understood what he felt.  
  
Like any other lonely child, I might have created an imaginary friend. But a person of my whim couldn't compare or replace Amane-chan's intense vitality.  
  
Then one day, I met my shadow.  
  
Infinitely stubborn and willful, he led a naïve and innocent me down a sunlit path that ended up going places I shouldn't liked to have gone. Now I don't need him the same way I needed him before, but he still needs _me_. And I'll never be whole without him again.  
  
My shadow can mimic my every move with astounding accuracy. He wears my body and plays me so well that you'd swear he is another me.  
  
This constant companion follows me everywhere, so I am never alone. Wherever I am, he tags along not far behind. After all, where light lingers, darkness can be found straying nearby.  
  
Though there are times I though for sure that he'd been swallowed up in the world of shadows, I could never lose him even if I tried. He always persists and returns to me. We're attached in ways I can't even begin to fathom.  
  
But maybe it's that bond that would make me incomplete without that part of me.  
  
Besides, if I'm not there to cast my shadow, then where would he be?  
  
.  
  
_"Ryou, how do you expect me to trace your shadow for you if you keep fidgeting?"  
  
"Gomen nassai, 'Tousan." But he was standing perfectly still already, even if the shadow kept jerking a hand or shaking his head.  
  
"There, I'm all finished." Bakura-san stood up, dusting off his hands. "I never knew you to be so twitchy before."  
  
Ryou shrugged, raising his right hand and watching out of the corner of his eye at the fleeting image of the shadow raising his left hand.  
  
"Do shadows ever move on their own?"  
  
Bakura-san shook his head. "No, they only copy the movements of whatever casts them, Ryou."  
  
"What about the unruly ones?" the child persisted.  
  
"If so, they're too sneaky for me to catch," he laughed.  
  
Ryou nodded absently. What a funny, if not disobedient, little shadow.  
  
His hand went unconsciously to the Sennen Ring he was wearing under his shirt. Who knew, maybe the unruly shadows, too full of life, eventually leapt free of their masters._  
  
**...  
Owari  
...**  
  
_-Windswift Shinju_


End file.
